Afghans protest deaths in US-led raid

Afghan students burned an effigy of President Bush on May 1 as they rallied in a third day of protests against civilians alleged to have been killed by US-led troops. A US-led raid on Apr. 29 on a suspected militant cell killed as many as six Afghans–including a woman and a teenage girl–and spawned protests by hundreds of angry Afghans chanting "Death to Bush!" A crowd of about 500 blocked a highway in the eastern province of Nangarhar. The incident came amid concern about claims of heavy civilian casualties in the western province of Herat. Parliamentarians expressed anger at mounting civilian deaths in US-led military operations against insurgents. Protesters insisted all six were civilians. A 24-year-old student named Abdul Hafiz said President Hamid Karzai and the national assembly must bring the soldiers to justice or quit. "It is for the president and national assembly to protect their citizens and stand against injustice. They must investigate and bring the guilty US soldiers to justice; if they are incapable of doing that, they better resign," he said. Agriculture student Esmatullah, 20, said the US raid was "barbaric." "If the Americans have suspicions of people they must arrest the suspects and try them in a court, not directly kill them in their houses with their family," he said. The US said four militants were among the dead, but it was the civilian deaths that infuriated the protesters, who carried five bodies to a main highway and blocked traffic with felled trees during the demonstration. They vowed not to bury the bloodstained bodies until those responsible were punished and villagers detained after the incident were freed. "Their operation was based on incorrect reports, and they carried out a cruel attack on these houses," said local resident Akhtar Mohammad at the protest. "We are not the enemy, we are not al-Qaida. Why are they attacking us?" Afghan officials have repeatedly pleaded with the United States and NATO to take care during operations that might harm civilians, and the latest violence is sure to deepen distrust among Afghans, whose support for international forces and the shaky US-backed government is waning. The incident occurred in the area where a US Marines convoy, fleeing after being hit by a suicide car bomb on Mar. 4, fired indiscriminately on vehicles and pedestrians, killing 12 people. Abdul Mohammad, a Nangarhar police investigator, said the operation in the Bati Kot district left five civilians dead, including two women. The differing figures could not immediately be reconciled, and it could not be verified if the dead men were militants or not. The coalition said that after being fired upon, the coalition forces returned fire, killing four militants, an adult woman and a teenage girl. Another child and teenage girl were also wounded during the gunfight. Coalition forces found several guns and bomb-making materials, and detained one man from the compound for questioning.